Fairy Dust
by NiceIceEdward
Summary: Bella is observed while reading in her meadow - very quick read. Jasper / Bella / Edward


**A/N: This is just short "observational perspective" piece I did for another fic I'm writing. A friend enjoyed it enough that she asked me to post it. It's really not much, but hope you'll like it. This piece should be read with this song playing: http:// www . youtube . com / watch?v=D51BQr58LZs -Copy/paste it into your web browser and remove all the spaces. Thanks for reading **

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This wasn't allowed.

No one had laid down an edict, and there weren't any rules, but deep down I knew that what I did was not allowed. Or at least, shouldn't be.

I sat still watching her from my perch. She read a book, sprawled out across the summer grass that grew around her.

It was true that I'd been told to watch over her, as a precaution, but I knew watching her this way wasn't what had been intended.

She lay on her stomach, knees bent, and her crossed ankles high above her, swaying back and forth as though swaying in some imaginary breeze.

She sighed and rolled over, putting the book up high to block the light of the afternoon sun. I sat very still watching as the light changed. Her arm wavered, she was growing tired. As the shadows crept toward her, her hand and the book held in it dropped to her chest. She closed her eyes and sighed.

She had never been merely pretty. He'd said it a thousand times in arguments with the rest of my family. I always kept my agreement to myself, hidden behind other things, fearful of what he would make of it.

The sun had dropped low enough that the leaves that hung above her made fractal patterns across her cheeks. Tiny golden spots of light danced across her face as the branch swayed in the strong wind.

Her breathing refined, and became regular. She slept deeply now, warmed by the lethargic sun and shaded by the dancing trees.

I ventured nearer her. I sat beside her and tested her emotional climate. The purity of her joy made me gasp softly. I pulled it into myself and enjoyed it from a few inches back. A golden beam of the sunlight from above lit her soft lips. I dared to gently brush across her lips with my fingers. So fragile, so gentle. Her lips puckered slightly, kissing me unintentionally in her slumber.

I leaned forward to smell her scent, to test myself. A blush came to her cheeks and I slid my face across them. I moved to draw my nose to the other side, but she was more responsive than I gave her credit for.

As my lips passed above hers, she moved, and for a brief moment our lips touched. I ran the fingers on my right hand along her jawline, and gently down her throat. She gasped softly and a smile spread across her face as she turned onto her side.

I could hear the slight change in her breathing, and I moved quickly again. I watched from my perch as she sat up and looked around the field around her. She raised a tentative hand to her lips, covering them as she looked around. When she'd satisfield herself that no one was around watching her, she pushed herself up.

She walked slowly through the overgrown underbrush. Summer made the golden stalks stand high in her path. She stepped carefully around them, her hands held out to balance herself.

I was married to the most graceful vampire I'd ever seen. Here I watched a girl with grace that no one else saw except for me. She was accident prone, but her movement was beautiful.

I followed from high above her, traversing the canopy to keep my presence silent and hidden. We were nearly to the house now, and she paused at the river. She leaned down and dipped one hand, the one not holding the blanket and book, into the water. Slowly she lifted her dripping hand to her neck and wiped the cool water across her throat, closing her eyes in an almost ecstatic appreciation.

I found myself drawn lower into the ground level boughs of the trees I traversed. I was just across the river from her now, though still hidden. She ran her hand around and across the back of her neck under her hairline. I was entranced, somehow she was such a beautiful sight, breathtaking and entirely unaware of herself.

Her eyes opened and seemed to unerringly touch directly on the spot I hid in. I froze, terrified she'd see a reflected glint of my skin, or the change of light resulting from my movement. She looked back down at herself in the water, touched her lips again, then closed her eyes. I could feel it, from across the river I felt a slight anguish.

I involuntarily stepped down out of the tree, I had one foot on the ground, and opened my mouth to call her name. I would ask her if she was ok, that would be acceptable. Hesitantly my lips parted;

"Bella!" It wasn't my voice which spoke, though I'd meant to speak.

Her face instantly glowed brilliantly, her eyes lit and a smile nearly of exultation crossed her beautiful face. The anguish was gone, replaced by radiant joy. I climbed back into the trees and escaped.

I didn't realize however, that he'd heard me in that moment before I fled. Not until Edward confronted me later, when I returned home.

"Jasper?" His tone questioned, but his emotions demanded.

My mind was a riot of excuses, but I had no answer.

_Thirst? _I wondered. We both knew that wasn't the answer, but our eyes met and there was acceptance on one side, apology on the other.

"It must have been fairy dust." he said with a smirk.

I tentatively smiled back. _Yes, the fairy dust. That was it._


End file.
